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He's leading the Eastern League w/a .350 average this morning and is 4th in slugging and OPS.He'd be up there in other things too, except he's only played in 40 games, 10-15 fewer than others.

However where does he fit w/the O's, this year and next? Reimold, your primary DH candidate, is still an unknown because he's presently occupying his customary spot on the DL. McLouth is having a really nice year in left and destroys other teams as a base stealer.Dickerson, Valencia and Pearce fill in well as rotating DH's.

Whatever they do, they shouldn't trade Urrutia-and I bet they're getting calls.As a hitter, this guy mite compare to Cespedes and Puig up here-who knows? I'd move him up to Norfolk for a few weeks and see what develops.He needs more of a challenge.While double-A may have the better prospects, triple A w/have more finesse pitchers that could give a hitter trouble; Urrutia needs to see them.Next year, he's probably my DH. Possibly even later this year if we need the hitting.

If he continues to be a good lead-off hitter and base-stealing threat, I'm warming to McLouth as next year's left fielder. Thoughts?

Henry Urrutia's role with the Orioles right now is to be the Bowie Baysox's left fielder and clean up his defense and base running. Dickerson, Pearce, and Valencia are all doing fine at the moment. They are all hitting reasonably well and are not deserving of a demotion. Travis Ishikawa, who has an opt out date coming soon, is tearing the cover off the ball in AAA and will probably get some at-bats at DH in the near future. Nolan Reimold and Wilson Betemit are rehabbing. I predict Urrutia will be in the minors the whole year.

The Orioles' FO is sending a booming message that Urrutia is NOT ready for Baltimore and won't be until he improves the non hitting part of his game. If I were him I would listen very carefully to that warning because at this point he has a better chance of reading about Nate McLouth accepting a qualified offer to play LF for the Orioles than he does being there himself.

The Orioles' FO is sending a booming message that Urrutia is NOT ready for Baltimore and won't be until he improves the non hitting part of his game. If I were him I would listen very carefully to that warning because at this point he has a better chance of reading about Nate McLouth accepting a qualified offer to play LF for the Orioles in 2014 than he does being there himself.

osforlife wrote:Henry Urrutia's role with the Orioles right now is to be the Bowie Baysox's left fielder and clean up his defense and base running. Dickerson, Pearce, and Valencia are all doing fine at the moment. They are all hitting reasonably well and are not deserving of a demotion. Travis Ishikawa, who has an opt out date coming soon, is tearing the cover off the ball in AAA and will probably get some at-bats at DH in the near future. Nolan Reimold and Wilson Betemit are rehabbing. I predict Urrutia will be in the minors the whole year.

The Os have a bunch of borderline guys who combine to do a decent job at DH.But that won't last.The more you expose people like Dickerson and Pearce to the tough front line pitching we're going to face, the more their weaknesses w/b exposed. This guy is murdering the ball and they can use him.I think more and more that you'll see Urrutia sometime after the Break.

osforlife wrote:Yes, Henry Urrutia is killing the ball...in AA. I'm sure Chris Dickerson, Danny Valencia, and Steve Pearce would kill the ball in AA too. They also know how to play defense and run the bases.

Very well put!!! I love having this guy and watching him put up the numbers and who knows how good he might be. But for now he needs to face AAA pitching and work on the rest of his game.

Looking into next season, where does Urrutia fit in? Does he displace McClouth in Left? The chances of trading Markakis with that big contract are slim. I guess you could DH him, of course that is assuming he is MLB ready. I still think Urrutia is at best an average starting outfielder, at worst he is a fourth outfielder. Fourth outfielders are easy to come by. We are already stocked at that position.

The chance of Urrutia being an all star caliber player are VERY slim. Next season he will be 27 years old. I would trade him in a New York second if it meant getting a good starting pitcher in Baltimore......

dan72 wrote:Looking into next season, where does Urrutia fit in? Does he displace McClouth in Left? The chances of trading Markakis with that big contract are slim. I guess you could DH him, of course that is assuming he is MLB ready. I still think Urrutia is at best an average starting outfielder, at worst he is a fourth outfielder. Fourth outfielders are easy to come by. We are already stocked at that position.

The chance of Urrutia being an all star caliber player are VERY slim. Next season he will be 27 years old. I would trade him in a New York second if it meant getting a good starting pitcher in Baltimore......

No chance does he displace McLouth next year. The season he's having McLouth will go elsewhere with a nice fat contract. My guess is you see some sort of platoon at the position. LJ Hoes, some inexpensive free agent and God knows who else.

As long as Urrutia is not "special" like Pie, he will have a role in Baltimore likely starting in 2014. He should be moved to AAA after the all-star break because you can learn defense and base running anywhere.

Markakis' last season with Baltimore might be 2014. The 2 million buyout for 2015 will likely be exercised. At 30, will DD look to re-sign him for a reasonable 5 year 50 million deal?

You're probably aware that McLouth is not signed for next year and it's going to be IMO a real test of ownership's commitment to winning to decide how they're going to deal with that. We could make him a qualified offer and get him back on a one year deal for about 14M. That's a lot for a LF, but he has shown himself to be am impact player at lead off and we don't have a proven replacement. If he leaves for a multi year offer we get a first round draft pick. Win win.

Of course, the acid test is whether the FO is allowed to pay him 14M if he accepts the offer. Let's just say I have my doubts about Peter Angelos being willing to spend that kind of money on McLouth.